Seder 124: Two Questions on Psalm 51:3-5

 Psalm 51, a prayer of repentance, was written by David when he was confronted by Nathan the prophet about his adultery with Bathsheba and his arranging the death of her husband Uriah (see 2 Sam 12).    

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on July 25, 2026, Kyle Kettering discussed two questions raised by Psalm 51:3-5, where David acknowledges the fact that he has sinned greatly and has no excuse.  

The first question is from verse 4, where David confesses, "Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight."  What does David mean here?  Surely David also sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah.  There are a number of scriptures that speak of someone sinning against another person, including:

• Genesis 42:22, which speaks of Joseph's brothers sinning against him;
• 1 Samuel 2:25, which contrasts sinning against a man and sinning against God;
• Luke 15:21, where the prodigal son acknowledges sinning against both God and his father.

Kyle explained that David is saying, "Since it was your standard that I violated, however you decide to punish me will be appropriate."  As the king of Israel, he was accountable to the God of Israel for his behavior.  He had violated God's standards, not someone else's.  

A second, harder question is raised by verse 5.  In the ESV, this verse says, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." This verse is often cited as a proof text for the Christian doctrine of original sin.  Kyle observed, however, that it is not necessarily a good idea to make a poetic text like a psalm carry a lot of weight in a theology debate.  (The key text on original sin is Romans 5, which is part of a theological discourse.)

Kyle went on to explain that there are other possible translations of verse 5.  One issue is the translation of chet, the Hebrew word for "sin" in this verse.  This is a word that usually means sin or impurity but can sometimes mean purity or cleanness.  A discussion of Jewish sages on this point is recorded in the Talmud in Niddah 31b, where a couple of examples are cited.  One is in Numbers 14:52, which is about the cleansing of a moldy house.  The other is Psalm 51:7 ("Purge me with hyssop ..."), just a couple of verses after the one in question.

With this information in mind, it follows that another possible translation of verse 5 could be, "Behold, I struggled with iniquity, but in purity my mother conceived me."  This translation has David taking full responsibility for what he has done---rather than saying original sin made him do it---which is consistent with the thrust of the psalm.

A lesson here, Kyle said, is that we should approach the biblical text with caution and humility to ensure, as much as possible, that we do not misrepresent it.  

Seder 38: Genesis 42:24---Why Simeon?

Joseph used his position as viceroy of Egypt to promote repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation in his family.  When his brothers came to Egypt to buy food furing a famine, he accused them of being spies, then  detained one of them---Simeon---and ordered the others to bring back their brother Benjamin.  

Genesis 42 doesn't tell us why Simeon was the one Joseph chose to detain.  A number of ideas have been proposed, as discussed by Nechama Price in her book Tribal Blueprints.  

One possibility is based on the fact that Joseph's oldest brother Reuben had not gone along with the proposal of killing Joseph  (Ge 37:21-22; 42:22).  Simeon was the second oldest and should be held responsible for what happened.  

Another possibility is that Simeon was more directly responsible for what happened to Joseph.  Perhaps he was the one who proposed the idea of killing Joseph.  After all, he and Levi had been the leaders in the Shechem massacre (Ge 34:25), and they seemed to have violent tendencies.  If Simeon and Levi together were the authors of the plan to kill Joseph, perhaps Joseph decided to split up this dangerous duo by detaining one of them.

Seder 38: Gen 42-43--Joseph Tests his Brothers

 When Joseph recognized his brothers, he did not tell them who he was.  Instead, he accused them of being spies and had them locked up for three days (Gen 42:8-17).  

The narrator tells us nothing about Joseph's thought process beyond a note that he remembered the dreams he had had more than 20 years before (v 9).  That note led to a suggestion by Nachmanides (1194-1270), one of the great medieval Jewish commentators, that Joseph's overall goal was to arrange for the fulfillment of his dreams.  

Most interpreters do not go in that direction, however.  A more usual suggestion is that Joseph's plan was to test his brothers and promote their repentance and the reunification of his family.  

As we continue through the narrative, we at least can keep track of Joseph's actions and their results.  His incarceration of his brothers certainly gave them an opportunity to contemplate their predicament.  They blamed their situation on what they done to Joseph all those years ago (vv 21-22).  They  felt guilty about what they had done, which can be considered a step toward repentance.  

After three days Joseph sent his brothers back home with grain, keeping Simeon in custody and ordering the others to return with their brother Benjamin.  They told their father the truth about where Simeon was, an improvement over their behavior with regard to Joseph.  

It would take some time for Jacob to accept the idea of Benjamin's making the trip to Egypt.  But as the famine continued, Judah finally persuaded him to let Benjamin go, taking personally responsibility for Benjamin's welfare (Gen 43:1-14).  Jacob decided to leave the matter in God's hands, while following his usual strategy of preparing a lavish gift for the Egyptian official (see Prov 18:16).

Seder 38: Gen 42---Joseph Meets his Brothers Again

 After 13 years as a slave in Egypt, Joseph was placed in charge of Egypt's "grain management and famine relief" program.  He supervised the stockpiling of grain during 7 years of plenty.  When the subsequent years of famine began, he supervised the distribution of grain to those who needed it.  

After his promtion to leadership, Joseph does not seem to have attempted to contact his family, although he would have been concerned about how they were doing.  He also surely wondered why they had not contacted him.  Jacob would have had the means to buy Joseph back, if only Jacob had known Joseph was a slave in Egypt.  

Having heard nothing from his family, Joseph may well have felt rejected by them.  Had he been sent away for some reason, as Ishmael and Esau had in previous generations?  In naming his oldest son Manasseh, he expressed a desire to put the past behind him (Gen 41:51).  Certainly he had plenty of responsibilities to keep him busy.

Then, after over 20 years, 10 of his brothers showed up in Egypt, seeking grain during the famine.  When they "came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground" (Gen 42:6), we are reminded of Joseph's dream about the sheaves in Gen 37:7.  Joseph thought of it too (Gen 42:9).  

At this dramatic moment "Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him" (v 8).  The word for "recognize" (nakar) is an important one in this account.  Earlier his brothers had asked their father if they recognized Joseph's bloody coat (37:32), and Judah had been asked whether he recognized the items that he had given Tamar as a pledge (Gen 38:25).  

In the failure of his brothers to recongize him, we see another way in which Joseph is a type of Jesus, since many in Israel did not recognize Jesus as Messiah when he came.  "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him," we read in John 1:11.  

In his sermon at Church of the Messiah on Jan 2, 2021, Rob Wilson emphasized the importance of our recognizing God's presence in the world and in our lives.